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The future of the Greig Hall to be decided

THE future of the Greig Hall is due to be decided at a cabinet meeting of Stratford District Council next week.

The hall has been closed for several years and bitter arguments have been made from all corners as to what the site's future should be.

Councillors have three options that they can choose from. They can either take full ownership of the site, jointly manage the site with Wychavon Leisure, a not-for-profit sports company, or decline to financially assist the Greig trustees altogether,

Alcester councillor Mike Gittus has argued that the only realistic option is the transition of the site to full Stratford District Council ownership.

"Alcester must put the past history of the Greig Hall behind them, this is not a time to point fingers, but a time to pull together with a common aim to enable the future prosperity and success of this iconic building," he said.

"I feel that this option will give the stakeholders the best opportunities, whilst retaining control of the public investment."

Fellow AlcesterTown councillors Eric Payne and Sue Adams also supported the transfer of ownership to the council.

However, Greig trustee David Rose, speaking on behalf of the Greig Trust , says the third option of joint ownership with Wychavon Leisure should not be ignored.

"Our major concern is that Alcester councillors have failed to understand financial realities. Financing the hall won’t come cheaply so will need more public funding, and almost certainly an increase in the town precept, which is already the highest around."

He said that Stratford District Council would have to find huge sums of money and that the trust cannot see the logic of the district council reallocating funds to Alcester to the detriment of others.

"Our focus has been on attracting investment from private business so that there is no drain on the public purse. This has been achieved through the prospect of the like-minded charity, Wychavon Leisure, providing professional sports and leisure centre management worth many hundreds of thousands of pounds."

A spokesman for Stratford District Council said that officers have been working with the Greig Trustees over recent months to try and find a way to resolve the difficult situation that exists around the Greig Hall and the Lifestyles building.

The meeting will take place on Monday, March 10 at 2pm at Elizabeth House, Stratford and is open to members of the public.

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